September 24 -- The Wall Street Journal debunked several of what it labeled "myths" about renewable energy on Monday. But the paper itself has promoted several of these myths in the past, obscuring the promising growth of renewable energy as prices rapidly decline. According to Wall Street Journal reporter Keith Johnson, "[o]ld ideas die hard" when it comes to renewable energy. He went on to debunk "six myths about renewable energy" that he said stemmed from "outdated facts and assumptions." >>View Article

September 23 -- The state’s biggest utilities, in a milestone for New England’s wind power industry, have signed long-term contracts to buy wind-generated electricity at prices below the costs of most conventional sources, such as coal and nuclear plants. The contracts, filed jointly Friday with the Department of Public Utilities, represent the largest renewable energy purchase to be considered by state regulators at one time. If approved, the contracts would eventually save customers between 75 cents and $1 a month, utilities estimated. >>View Article

September 23 -- One thing is for sure, Google is putting its money where its mouth is where green energy is concerned. One of the big boys of the Internet age, Google recently announced it plans to use even more Texas Panhandle wind to reach its goal of powering the cyberspace giant with 100 percent renewable energy — an objective pulled straight from Google’s website. >>View Article

September 23 -- Thanks to improvements in technology, Michigan utility companies should be capable of tripling their renewable energy use by 2035, according to a report issued Friday by the Michigan Public Service Commission and the Michigan Energy Office. >>View Article

September 18 -- The state’s clean energy industry continues to thrive, according to two separate reports released Tuesday, with more than 20,000 employees working in renewable energy in Massachusetts and Boston ranked the most energy-efficient US city. An analysis for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, a quasipublic agency created to support the alternative energy sector, found the jobs in the industry were spread across several energy technologies, including solar, wind, hydropower, and bioenergy, which includes biofuels. >>View Article

September 18 -- Google (GOOG) announced Tuesday that it has agreed to purchase the entire output of the 240-megawatt Happy Hereford wind farm outside of Amarillo, Texas. The wind farm, which is expected to start producing energy in late 2014, is being developed by Chermac Energy, a small, Native American-owned company based in Oklahoma. The wind farm will provide electricity to the Southwest Power Pool, the regional grid that powers Google's data center in Oklahoma. >>View Article

September 12 -- The average wind turbine kills three to four birds a year. Operators can face penalties if their turbines kill bald and golden eagles, endangered species and some migratory birds. That’s according to Dale Strictland, president of Cheyenne-based environmental consulting company Western EcoSystems Technology, which provided technical research for a set of guidelines published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2012. If operators follow the guidelines, they can get out of penalties for bird deaths, because the government will presume they worked on good faith and didn’t intend to kill them, he said. >>View Article

September 11 -- Some western U.S. states have already made full use of their best locations for large-scale wind and solar power generation, creating opportunities for neighbouring states that still have suitable sites and for small-scale solar generation. Renewable resources are bountiful in theory - a few tens of square kilometres of desert could supply enough solar power for the world's electricity needs - but that is before taking practicalities into account. >>View Article

September 11 -- Consumers Energy plans to begin construction this year on a $255 million wind power project in Michigan that will expand the company's renewable energy options. The unit of Jackson-based CMS Energy Corp. announced Wednesday that it signed a contract with Southfield-based Barton Malow Co. for engineering, procurement and construction services at the Cross Winds Energy Park, a 105-megawatt wind farm in Tuscola County. >>View Article

September 10 -- Xcel Energy Inc. is proposing to triple the amount of utility-scale solar power on its grid in Colorado, and add another 450 megawatts of wind power. The proposal, filed with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, is the result of months of competitive bidding by power plant developers eager to supply electricity to Xcel. >>View Article